How to Remove Drywall Anchors – 2018 Guide

While anchors are generally considered a permanent solution, sometimes you’ll want to redecorate the room and that can make it necessary to move your decorations around.

Let’s face it, they’re a bit unsightly when you don’t have anything hanging from them, and can absolutely ruin the aesthetic appeal of the wall you put hard work into installing. Thankfully, they can be removed but it’ll take a little bit of know-how.

Harry , Homethods Author

Get Your Tools Together

You’re going to need a little bit of equipment to get things going here. It’s actually not much, but at the minimum, you’ll need the following:

A Screwdriver

A Hammer

Needle Nose Pliers

A Razor Knife

Spackling Compound

A Putty Knife

Medium Grit Sandpaper

Technically, the spackling compound, putty knife, and sandpaper aren’t required for the removal. Most of us aren’t fans of open holes in our walls, however, and duct tape patching will just look tacky at the end of the day so we’re going to walk you through the fill-in as well.

Getting the Anchor Out

Step 1

Depending on the type of anchor present, you’ll have a few different options for removing them. The main thing that all of them will have in common, however, is that being careful will prevent more damage.

For the most part, drywall anchors will have a Phillips screw in the top of them and the first thing you’ll need to do is get the screw out of there. Just unscrew it and set it aside for now, for the most part, the anchors are going to be unusable after removal anyways but you might want to keep the screw itself for future projects if it’s not a common size.

Some anchors will use an Allen screw, or hex screw depending on where you’re from, but that really doesn’t change anything other than the tool you’ll be using to get them out.

At this point, your anchor should be bared to the world, waiting for you to get it out. If you didn’t install the anchor yourself, you’ll need to ascertain which type of anchor it is before you go any further, since the methods will differ.

Self-Expanding Anchors

Plastic self-expanding anchors are the easiest to deal with. In some cases getting them out will be as simple as grabbing your pliers and pulling it out. It should give some resistance if it was installed properly, but if it’s super hard to pull, then be careful or you can damage your wall.

For most anchors you’ll get the best grip by reaching across the face of the anchor, although with some particularly small ones you may need to insert part of the pliers into the hole itself. Pull back and give it a little bit of a twist to break it free.

If that doesn’t work, then you’re going to want to grab a flathead screwdriver to try a different method. It’s bound to damage the wall a little bit more, but not quite as much as just ripping the anchor out if it’s bound up in the sheetrock itself.

A smaller screwdriver is better here for the most part since it will cause less damage around the rim of the hole. If you don’t have a very small driver, use one with a hexagonal shaft to avoid digging into the exterior surface of the wall.

You’re aiming to “break” the anchor here if it doesn’t actually break you can still often loosen it enough to get some give. Pry carefully and proceed slowly until there is some give, then do the same exactly across from the first hole.

Try the pliers again, if you did it properly then you’re going to be surprised at how easily it breaks free. If it’s still wedged in there, then try moving over 90° and prying there and across again.

If all of this sounds too complicated, you can always just tap them through to the hollow portion of the wall with a screwdriver and hammer, but we recommend removing them carefully from the front in order to minimize the damage caused to the wall.

Self-Screwing Anchors

If the anchor is of the self-screwing variety, then you’re going to have to do things a little bit differently. Do not just rip this one out or you’re going to end up with a mess and a larger hole than necessary.

After removing the screw go dig around in your box until you find a flathead screwdriver with a wide enough head to fit snugly into the anchor itself. Then unscrew it.

Now, not everyone has a wide variety of screwdrivers laying around, and if you’re the type of tool-poor DIYer you’re not going to have to run out and snatch up a new set of screwdrivers just to get things done.

There’re two easy ways to take care of this task, the first is to grab the biggest one you have that will fit and angle it. Cock your wrist downwards, “grabbing” the far edge from where you’re bending and give it a twist. Don’t press enough to break the drywall, it can require a careful touch but if it’s slipping and you apply progressive pressure you’ll have it done soon enough.

The other way to do it is to just grab a pocket knife in a similar fashion. Really, anything metal that will fit inside and is relatively flat will let you get it out. The key here, as always, is to proceed carefully. All isn’t lost if you do break the wall, but the clean-up is going to be much more extensive.

There’s one exception to this rule, while the “legs” on a plastic self-drilling anchor should come off easily, metal isn’t such a simple matter.
The “legs” of these anchors actually aren’t made to hold anything but instead to allow you to drive the final anchoring screw through them. The problem here occurs because metal is a stronger material.

Your best bet if the anchor is made of metal is to carefully bend up the lip of the anchor and push it through the wall. Use a hammer and screwdriver to tap it though and you’ll be fine. Just pulling it will incur massive damage if the legs don’t come off while you’re trying to screw it out.

Removing Molly Bolts

Molly bolts are a wonderful type of anchor. They are also a massive pain to remove, and unlike self-screwing anchors, their “legs” are an essential part of the anchor itself.

The easiest way is to just grab a drill and go at it. Well, be more careful than that, but with a properly sized drill bit the collar will pop free in seconds and you can then spackle over the hole regardless of where the tube ends up.

If you don’t have access to a decent drill, however, you’ll have to do it the old fashioned way. You can try to use a pair of pliers first, but a properly installed molly bolt isn’t going to come out that way without a fight. In most cases, using a screwdriver and a hammer to push it through is your best option.

Covering the Hole

Now that you’ve gotten the anchor out of there, it’s time to get to covering up the unsightly hole in your wall. As long as you didn’t cause any excessive damage to the wall, you’ve already gathered everything you need.

If you did do a lot of damage, don’t worry too much about it, but it’s time for a patch to be made.

Inspect the damage done before you go any further. Any outward protrusions in the wall can be taken care of by light tapping with a rubber mallet or even a hammer but take care not to punch out part of the wall.

If the drywall around the edge is exceptionally damagedthen you can create a “funnel” shape with your razor knife by carefully cutting at an angle around the edge to make it easier to fill in with spackle. There’s no real reason to go overboard here, just try to minimize the damage to the back part of the drywall.

Now you’ll just need to mix up your spackling compound and lay it down with a putty knife. Try to fill the hole decently well, and use a compound that isn’t going to shrink too much when it dries.

Afterward, let it dry out then smooth it down with a small piece of sandpaper. If the wall was painted and textured, you may wish to repaint it, but it’s probably unnecessary to reapply texture over the hole.

Conclusion

There’s no need to deal with unsightly anchors after you’re done with them. With a little bit of care nearly anyone will be able to take care of the problem in short order, and the spackling process is one of the simplest patch jobs you’ll ever have to make. So quit letting those anchors weigh down the look of your room and get them out of there.